Top 7 Benefits of Social Media

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As you likely know by now social media takes time, thought and energy to maintain over the long run. This begs the question is it worth it?

According to a 2012 social media marketing industry report which surveyed 3,800 marketers, here are the top seven benefits of social media marketing.

7. Growing Business Partnerships – Strategic alliances and other partnerships can be incredibly important for growing a business. Over half (51%) of the marketers surveyed reported that social media grew their business partnerships.

6. Improving Search Engine Ranking – It is estimated that over 90% of online experiences begin with a search engines. Yet, 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results making this an important benefit. Of the marketers surveyed, 55% said their efforts resulted in improved search engine results.

5. Generating Leads –Leads are central to selling, yet generating qualified leads can be difficult. Lead Gen remains a leading benefit of social media marketing with 58% of marketers saying so.

4. Developing Loyal Fans – Loyalty is another important ingredient for selling. Tied with Lead Gen for fourth place, 58% of marketers report that their social media efforts resulted in building loyal fans.

3. Marketplace Insight – Marketing starts and ends with the customer making customer insights a main ingredient of success. Two-thirds of marketers surveyed said they gained marketplace intelligence through their social media efforts.

2. Website Traffic – The second leading benefit of social media marketing is increased traffic with 69% of marketers indicating that social media did help them accomplish this important task.

And the number one reason…

1. Exposure – All sales start with awareness. A whopping 85% of all marketers report that their social media activities led to greater exposure for their businesses.

What’s Hot, What’s Not: How Marketers Will Change Their Social Media Activities in 2013

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A roundup of what’s hot and what’s not for 2013 according to Social Media Examiner founder Michael Steltner’s 2012 social media marketing industry report.

Video, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs: Marketers of businesses of all sizes are already using the leading  social media platforms to a large degree and plan on increasing their use of YouTube/video marketing (76%), Facebook (72%), Twitter (69%) and blogs (69%) in 2013.

Google+: While as few as 40% of businesses are using Google+, a majority of businesses (67%) plan to increase their Google + activity. This is especially true for businesses who spend at least 11 hours a week on social media marketing. At the same time, 1 in 5 marketers have no plans to use the social “layer”.

Photo sharing: With about 20% of marketers already using photo sharing sites like Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr, 38% plan to increase their use. For companies spending 21 hours or more on their weekly social media activities, 50% plan to increase their time on photo sharing sites.

Forums, Geo-Location and Daily Deals: Only 34% of businesses will increase their use of forums, while 40% have no plan to use forums at all. Similarly, only 23% of marketers will increase their use of geo-location services like Foursquare with 57% indicating they have no plans to utilize these services. Finally, 72% of marketers have no plan to utilize daily deal websites like Groupon or LivingSocial and only 12% plan on increasing their use of these sites.

 

Social Media Mistkes to Avoid

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Social media marketing is still uncharted territory for many small business owners. As you jump in, consider these common mistakes to avoid.

Self Promoting – A common mistake. After all, the reason you’re using social media in the first place is to promote your business. For many it seems make sense to go about this in the most direct way possible. Alas, self promotion is a tricky proposition on social media. People are there to socialize, to share, to connect around shared interests.

Buying Friends – You may have had someone tell you they can get you hundreds or thousands of followers or Likes in a short period of time. They may be talking in fact about buying social media followers. In general any quick and easy approach to marketing Online should be avoided as it can wind up hurting you down the line. If someone promises a way that sounds too good to be true,  it is. Fake friends can cause you trouble later on including lower search engine rankings.

Ignoring Customer Service — Social media is yet another place to interact with prospects and also existing customers. Yet by some estimates, companies respond to only 30% of social media fans’ feedback. Many people prefer the immediacy of posting a question or comment to a company’s Twitter feed or Facebook page to calling a customer service number. How you respond and how quickly is a reflection on how you handle customer service.

Going in Without a Plan – The mistake of jumping into social media without a basic blueprint outlining whom you are trying to reach and how you will go about doing so will very likely lead to another major social media mistake — social media neglect.

Ignoring it All Together – While some people jump in with no plan, others still avoid using social media altogether. With over 90% of all us adults actively using social media, this is a huge mistake. Consider instead, a tiered plan that allows you start with what you can handle.